Hi

I have recently bought a Faber Castelle Ambition and I wanted to warn people if you try to add it to a converter it is quite difficult. I have been searching in vain for a converter because I bought a Waterman Converter and that was too fat and I went to the shops to try a montblanc converter but that was also too fat!

What is a guy to do?

I was going to buy the E-Motion but I saw a good review of the pen on Glenn's Pen Page

http://www.marcuslink.com/pens/pensofnote/fabercastell.html

If anyone has any advice or has had the same trouble please feel free to send a reply because I am a little bit pissy that the first expensive fountain pen I buy won't work with a converter!

Thanks

I found a converter for the Ambition at pencity.com (usual disclaimer applies). It works well.

It was on backorder, so there was some delay.

Catherine

Unfortunately, I do not have information on the convertor. However, I have thought about buying this pen for some time, partly because of the same review you saw. I have been concerned about the very short section on the pen, with the apparently abrupt transition to the barrel. Do you hold the pen by the barrel to avoid that "edge"? Also, what is your impression of the nib?

Hi Futhark

Your right on the money with the long barrel! I still hold the barrel because I would probably get inky hands trying to touch the metal section.

As for the nib, I bought a medium nib and I find it stops and starts. Do you have any advice about this? Should I clean out the nib with ever so slightly soapy water and let it dry to get the chemicals out which have been put in by the manufacturers?

Many thanks for the fast responses to my questions about the Ambition. I think I could probably grip the pen by the barrel since it is so narrow, but I will definitely try to test one in a store if an opportunity comes along.

Anywho3, the starting and stopping does sound like an oil contamination problem, but often those issues come from using convertors....It would not hurt to try the method, as there might be some trace oils, release agents or some other contaminants in the feed. I had a Visconti Van Gogh that was cured of poor inkflow after a soap rinse.

This is the converter I purchased (at bottom of page):

Converter at pencity.com

Hi Futhark, I think Samovar is right about trying it in the shop. But sometimes after a couple of weeks you slightly get used to the pen and vice versa. But if you do have a good pen store have a look around. I think the Lamy Safari and Lamy Al-Star are more ergonomic in their design as well. They also do a left handed version which is great for me!

The ambition FP just got revised with E-motion FP nib and also with a barrel that fits the standard sized piston which is now included with the pen. HIGHLY recommend to check out the Ambition with the new nib, smoooth.

OH another tid-bit if you are willing to wait 3-4 weeks you can send your pen back to the distributer and have it exchanged, because the first model of the Ambition has 2 design flaws:

- cap too tight
- does not fit piston

soo if you purchased your ambition from a pen store go back and talk to the guys and see if you can get a straight exchange.

Cheers

Another place to buy a converter is from UK-based Writing Desk (I have no financial interest - just been a customer and they've always been helpful. The link to the page on their site is http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/spares.php and you want the "International Size piston converter" about half way down. The one I bought from them fits my Ambition.

Cheers

Timothy

Hi, I can't believe how bloody good this board is for answers!!!!!

Thank you all so much.

I wanted to ask Tienlong where did you find out about the replacement for the Faber Castell Ambition being revised?

I want to investigate further and give it back to the website I bought it from!

Sorry, I've only just picked up on this thread.

The converter that Faber Castell supplies is exactly the same as the one supplied by Conway Stewart on this page:
http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/spares.php

Some standard converters, eg the Pelikan one (same as the one supplied by Yard-O-Led and Rotring for example) are a little to fat to fit in the Ambition's barrel. Note that I am referring to the current design Ambition. I can't speak for the original version as we don't have any of these any more. Also, the black Ambition is supplied without converter but the Pear and Coco versions come with one.

HTH,

Martin

anywho3 i work at a pen shop and I discussed the issues with my distributor. Also the orginal packaging did not come with a coverter, the new packaging the pen is shipped with a faber castell pistonwhich is almost identical (only difference is the rubber stopper that's inside the rotring piston) to a rotring if you have one laying around.

Here's a picture of the new ambition nib
But keep in mind that there was also a release that had the new nib but with the old body.

Hope it all works out for you.

Cheers,

Tien

That's the one I've got!

I suppose its a good thing I have got a new nib but I think I may have the old body. But I am getting a new free converter for free so I can't complain!

Btw why does my pen have trouble starting? Do I need to give it a clean or something? Also should I clean it when I switch inks from different manufacturers?

nice, where are you getting your converter from? what size is your nib? I've never had any problems with the ink flow. Ambition gives me a generous flow even when i write lightly.

What brand of ink have you used on your pen? yea definitely clean it out and see what happens.

HI

I think it was teething troubles, it has been writing more smoothly more recently. When I got it it came with a flimsy cartridge but I am not sure by which make because it was inside the pen.

I have found a replacement in a website I use all the time and they were the first people to get me hooked on pens

www.cultpens.com

They are a british company and what I like about them is they sell a lot of cheaper pens too but good cheaper pens. And some which this board doesn't really talk about.

But now I have bought a pelikan black ink now and once I get my converter it will work

We always love reviews of unusual pens, esp. cheap ones.

I have found another method for getting a converter to fit!

Buy a Lamy Safari converter. There are two little nodules on either side to secure it into place but if you file those off the Faber Castelle Ambition fits snugly inside!

Another top tip there for you!!!

I bought the basic black Ambition model on a whim from The Pen Shop whilst I was on holiday in Edinburgh.

Beautifully made pen, and writes very smoothly too.

The guy in the shop said that Faber-Castell didn't make a converter for it, which was a little disappointing...

A couple of weeks later, I found Cult Pens on the web, and saw that they had the Ambition in pearwood - I had to have it

After checking with someone at the site, I was told that the pearwood version came with Faber-Castell's own converter Apparently Pelikan's converter wouldn't fit as it was slightly too wide for the barrel, however, the nice people Cult Pens offered to sell me another Faber-Castell converter for my black Ambition for the same cost as the Pelikan

So now I've got two Ambitions which I can fill from an ink bottle... I'm happy Excellent service from Cult Pens, I can recommend them.

A.

I purchased a Pearwood Ambition this weekend from Reid's in Calgary and it came with a Faber Castell converter, as well as several cartridges.

I am very pleased with the pen's performance with either a cartridge or the converter.

Peter